Everlasting Smile
by Lady Knight White
Summary: One shot for Adderclan forum. Innocent Eyes. As a young kit adventures the forest, he finds a giant surprise. And not a good one either. When he hits apprenticehood, it returns, and it may make a lifetime difference. What happens when the pieces all fall together?


Flamekit sighed. _There's nothing to do! _He had listened to the elders until they told him all of thier stories, then he played mossball till he felt like he was going to fall from exhaustion. Flamekit tried to explore camp, but his mother, Sleekfoot, caught him and took him back to the nursery. There, the red kit sat in his nest, practically about to die from boredom. Then, he looked up. There was a hole, kit level, causing a draft. He squirmed out of the nursery, and into the forest. He sniffed.

"Ooh! There's a mouse over there!" Flamekit squeaked. He ran over, crunching leaves under his heavy pawsteps. There it was, sniffing around a tree root. He crouched, wiggling his haunches, and crept forwards noisily. The mouse ran away as soon as it heard him. Flamekit groaned.

"I thought I would catch that!" Suddenly, there was rustling. He gasped and leapt into a bush. Then the kit scrambled through until he heard voices.

"What are we going to do?" A light, soft voice said.

"We wait. Wait for the attack." A deep gruff voice replied, Flamekit shook and stepped back with a gasp.

"Darkblaze, what was that?" A white she cat asked. She was the first speaker.

Flamekit was shaking. He held his breath as the big, black cat looked at his bush with the his amber gaze. Darkblaze padded up to the Bush, sniffing it.

"Thunderclan," He growled. Flamekit was about to jump away when it pulled him out with a hooked claw. "A kit." He scoffed, glaring at him.

"I-I'm Flamekit, s-sir." He stammered, looking up at him fearfully. His bright green eyes shone.

"You were listening for how long?" The dark tabby Tom snarled.

"A moment, sir."

"You must not tell anyone what you heard. Or else, you will... join starclan early, in a way."

"Okay... I p-promise. P-please just let me g-go." Flamekit squeaked, voice high pitched and tail fluffed up.

Darkblaze snarled, "Fine. But I know where you live." And He dropped the kit on the dusty ground.

Flamekit nodded and scurried off, entering the camp from the secret entrance. There, he sat and thought about the cat. 'Why did he threaten me? Why did he talk about a battle?' He thought. "Flamekit!" Sleekfoot called. "Coming!" He scurried o his mother, forgetting about the cat.

* * *

"Mom, do you think I will get a good mentor?" Flamekit asked, bouncing around.

"Yes. Of course. Your father will definitely give you a great warrior." She said, licking him softly. Flamekit nodded. Suddenly, Harestar's voice rose over the crowd.

"All cats old enough to catch thier own prey, meet under the high rock for a clan meeting!"

"Mommy, It's time!" Flamekit squeaked, leaping about.

"Yes, go forth." His mother said gently, nudging him out with her tail. Flamekit padded forward.

"Flamekit, come up please." He padded up to stand next to his father.

"Flamekit, do you promise to train to defend your clan and learn the warrior code?" Harestar asked, looking down on Flamekit.

"I do." He answered, heart beating fast.

"Then by the powers of starclan, Flamekit, you will be known from now on as Flamepaw. Your mentor will be Flashstrike."

"Flamepaw, Flamepaw!" The voices from the clan below shouted. Flamepaw smiled wide and he licked his father's shoulder and got off of the ledge. But a horrible feeling rose in his throat. 'What happened to Darkblaze and that she cat?' Flamekit shook his head. 'Whatever. Let me see the other apprentices...'

4 MONTHS LATER...

The sounds of the forest were always soft, but very easy to find. Suddenly, an orange nose stook up from behind a bush, strange and neon in the midst of trees and nature. A small flame colored cat padded out from behind, crawling soundlessly towards a large mouse nibbling on seeds unsuspectingly. He lunged and landed squarely on top of it, biting it's neck for the kill. Perfect. Flamepaw smiled and buried it, padding away. Suddenly, a random cat leapt onto his shoulders. He hissed and flipped around, pinning it down.

"Featherpaw!" He teased, settling down after seeing his denmate. "Don't scare me like that!"

The tabby shecat giggled. "I certainly did scare you, didn't I?" She darted off, shouting over her shoulder, "Race you!"

Flamepaw grinned mischeviously and shot off, haring after her. Soon, he was right next to her. "Bye." Then he was in front, about to reach the large oak. Suddenly, he heard the same voices from all too long ago. "No..." He whispered. He shot back, stopping Featherpaw. She looked at him confused. "What?" He slapped his tail over her mouth. "Be quiet." He whispered, and she nodded. He crawled forwards, Featherpaw right behind him. They found the voices and stopped, listening.

"Darkblaze, now will we attack? It's been 6 moons."

"Yes, Snowfrost. We will tomorrow when the moon is at it's highest point and all the cats are asleep."

Featherpaw gasped. "Snowfrost? But she is the best most loyal warrior in the clan!" She whispered. That was the mistake. Darkblaze and Snowfrost turned to th small shrub and ripped it apart. "AHA!" He snarled, swiping Flamepaw onto the ground. "I see you have grown. Still the weakling kit though, aren't you?" He hissed mockingly, clawing Flamepaw's side hard and deep. Flamepaw snarled and leapt to his paws and lunged, bowling him over. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Featherpaw fighting Snowfrost. He called out, "Run!" And he darted off, Featherpaw hot on his trail. As they burst into camp, his sight began to fade. Then he remembered: The cut! He coughed, the blood from his side flooding. He fell to the ground, the camp fading black.

"Ugh..." He moaned, getting up. "What...?" That's when Dartfur, the medicine cat ran up and began rubbing ointment onto his cut. "What happened?" Dartfur asked, eyes widening.

"You have to tell Harestar!" He cried. "There will be an attack on the camp when the moon is at it's highest point! Many cats from our clan will turn as well as others, and rogues and loners will attack! Go tell Harestar!" Dartfur gasped and nodded, tail flying behind him as he raced to the den. Then Flamepaw noticed the time. "Oh no." The moon was 5 minutes away from its highest point. Harestar leapt onto the ledge, calling the warriors to block all entrances, the kits, queens and elders into his den, apprentices into the best hiding spot they could find, and medicine into thier extra hidden den. Dartfur raced into his Den and grabbed all his herbs, hiding in the extra one. The cats took places, and as soon as the warriors were done, they ran to thier own hideout den. The forest overwhelmed thier scents and there were no sounds. The camp was completely quiet, and all cats were hidden. That is when the really bad things happened. The camp Burst into fighting, warriors against warriors, apprentices against apprentices. Flamepaw watched, wide eyed from the makeshift medicine cat den. The he saw Featherpaw. She was fighting two large shadowclan Toms, whipping around and clearing and biting furiously. But a large riverclan warrior was creeping up on her, un noticed. He leapt to his paws, "Featherpaw! No!" He shouted, leaping into the riverclan she cat and clawing furiously. But she shoved him off, and pinned him. He heard the Toms growling, and featherpaw darting towards him. The last of the fighting was gone, but the enemy was still on him. With a last breath, he thought,_ Well, I saved Thunderclan. And Featherpaw is safe. That's all I ever wanted. _He closed his eyes and released his breath, the warrior puncturing through his throat. Everything went black, and he layed limp in the center of camp, muzzle upturned in an everlasting smile.


End file.
